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Monday, August 5, 2013

Red Bull stirs the pot - Meeting was about Alonso

Horner, Garcia and Sainz Sr.

Infiniti Red Bull Racing team boss, Christian Horner, has confirmed that a meeting was held with Fernando Alonso's manager, Luis Garcia, at the Hungaroring last weekend.

The fact that Garcia also manages the career of rising star Carlos Sainz Jr, who is backed by Red Bull, led many to discount the fact that Alonso could be looking for another drive after what looks set to be yet another disappointing year with the Maranello marquee.However, when asked about the meeting in an interview with Sport Bild, Christian Horner said, "Nonsense. Why would I talk to him about Sainz jr, who has long been in the Red Bull junior team?”

The Sport Bild report also stated that, "A decision is expected in the next seven days."

Although Horner and Garcia might have something to talk about other than Alonso, but Red Bull seem to want to make it abundantly clear that the meeting at the Hungaroring was about the Spaniard.

The chase for the very sought after seat that Mark Webber will leave vacant at the end of this year seemed to be a two horse race with Raikkonen and Ricciardo as the main competitors. But this shock revelation of Alonso's interest in the same seat even though he is contracted with Ferrari till the end of 2016 has taken most by surprise.

But Horner continues to insist that, “We have never been under pressure to take one of the junior drivers.

“We have won the world championships for the past three years, and we want to ensure we can carry on doing so in the future.”

Luis Garcia has not made any statements since the news of the meeting broke, but ex-manager, friend and former Renault boss Flavio Briatore told La Gazzetta dello Sport, "He has a contract and contracts must be respected. Alonso has never said [that] he wants to leave.”

Mercedes chairman Niki Lauda, seems quite certain that the story has been planted to destabilise Ferrari.